


The Call

by ShandyCandy278



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gaster Blaster (Undertale), And horror, Angst, Dust isn't insane here, Expirimentation, Fluff, Found Family, GB!Cross, GB!Dream, GB!Error, GB!Ink, GB!Nightmare, Ink is untrustworthy, Killer is fed up with secrets, M/M, Mentions of Expirimentation, NM is probably my favorite blaster with how he looks in my head, Not exactly supposed to be canon, Self Harm, They all worry Nightmare, and dust, chaotic Blue, fatherly Nightmare but it’s not outright stated, found family x2, mentioned self harm, oh well, pretty sure killer is out of character, this has been in my drafts for month now, this is for fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22576465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShandyCandy278/pseuds/ShandyCandy278
Summary: After having gone missing for two weeks with no memory of the event, Error, Ink, Nightmare, Dream, and Cross tried to return to their normal, every day lives with a truce. No one knows about it except them, and no one knows why it happened or how.The only thing that Killer does know, is that he’s sick of Nightmare keeping this secret from him. And he’s going to figure out what’s going on- no matter what his boss thinks.
Relationships: Cream - Relationship, Errink
Comments: 117
Kudos: 162





	1. The Truce

**Author's Note:**

> So, I actually came up with this idea MONTHS ago, back when I was first writing Curiosity Killed the ErROr. I actually really like the Gaster Blaster AUs and stuff, so I was really excited to talk about it. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a lot of feedback on the idea so it kinda just collected dust for a bit.
> 
> Then I go on Twitter about a week ago and see an AU where Error is a Gaster Blaster and he and Ink fall in love and stuff, and suddenly I can’t stop thinking about it.
> 
> So, yeah. Here I am, posting this. I have at least three chapters of it written, but I honestly have no idea how I’m going to progress the story from there atm.
> 
> Anyway- I hope you enjoy!

They had a truce.

It was for the most unlikely of reasons too, but Nightmare wasn’t complaining because the truce didn't change anything other than what had already changed.

No one knew why or how, but Ink, Dream, Error, Cross, and Nightmare himself had been affected by some kind of… call. They had all gone to check it out in a mysterious AU, and then nothing.

No, seriously- none of them could remember what happened in the two weeks that they were gone. All they knew was that they had been missing, that the AU no longer existed, and that they could morph into full-sized Gaster Blasters now.

Yes, you read that right. Full-sized Gaster Blasters.

And because of this discovery, they had formed a Truce. There was a single world (Kingdomtale, they had decided, because it was plenty magical already) that would count as a safe place. No one was to live in it or do anything to it, and they could only go there if they could feel the impending transformation coming on. If they were to regain consciousness and come across each other or see another person there they couldn’t attack. Everything was strictly business, and nothing from their normal lives could interfere with it. That included rivalries and grudges. They weren’t allowed to speak of this to anyone either, and no one was supposed to know what went on during those three days that would take place.

No one had any idea of what was going on. Not even his gang.

Speaking of…

He had no idea how much stress his job put on him. Maybe he should cut the slack a little- there had to be less stressful ways of taking over the Multiverse.

“You’re leaving again,” Killer growled as he watched Nightmare walk around his office, making sure that everything was ready before he left.

“I can’t tell you where I’m going or why.” Nightmare huffed, triple checking the lists he had made for his gang to follow while he was gone for the second time that month, and for the sixth time since he had returned from ‘The Calling Incident’ as they were now referring to it. “You’ll behave while I’m gone and be in charge of distributing the tasks amongst Dust and Horror.”

“...”

Nightmare sighed. “What is it?”

“Are you ever going to tell us what’s going on?” He asked. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Killer sighed and looked away. “Fine. Have it your way. Be careful.”

“You too.” Nightmare replied before teleporting. He appeared in the cabin that Ink had made in Kingdomtale and, with a swift glance around to see if anyone else was here (he could hear Error’s muttered curses from his room), began to take off his clothes and remove the goop from them in his own room.

They each had their own ‘privacy rooms’ in the cabin, along with a large bathroom and kitchen area. The cabin was high up in a mountain, far away from any kind of civilization and surrounded by trees, with a waterfall and lake not too far away. It was, admittedly, beautiful. He supposed that he had a good three minutes before he needed to transform, so he confidently walked out of his room.

“Oh.” A voice spoke from the kitchen (that Ink always kept stocked with food and other essentials, just in case), and Nightmare twirled around to see who it was. Who  _ they _ were, actually- Dream and Cross were both standing there, fully clothed and a portal disappearing behind them. Like Nightmare, their changes were caused by stress. Error’s and Ink’s changes were steadier and only happened once a month, thank heavens. “We didn't know you were here.”

“I didn't know you were coming.” Nightmare grumbled, refusing to give in to the temptation to wrap his arms around his bare form and his tentacles waving wearily. It wasn’t like he had anything to be ashamed of, anyway. “How long do you think you have?”

“Five minutes.”

“Seven minutes.”

“FIFTEEN SECONDS!” A new voice shouted, and a glitching black blur rushed by all of them and out the door that they slammed open. Nightmare turned to look at where the blur came from, only to see Ink walking out of his room, naked as well, following Error.

“Should I leave the door open?” He asked, taking a generous gulp from all of the vials on his sash as he walked out with it, placing it outside and next to the front porch in a special kind of box he had created that would prevent anyone but himself from taking it out.

“Close it, we still have time.” Nightmare snapped. Ink shrugged and did as he was told, the tale-tell sounds of popping bones and glitched screams of pain coming from outside making all of them wince. Nightmare turned back to look at Dream and Cross, who were both staring at each other.

“What are you waiting for?” He asked, gaining their attention. “You both have clothes that are hard to take off, and you said yourselves that you only had minutes left.”

“Right!” Dream laughed nervously, quickly running to his room to get out of his clothes. Cross glared at Nightmare as he walked into his own room, leaving Nightmare alone with the torturous sounds of Error’s transformation.

“Idiots. All of them.” Nightmare hissed, walking towards the back door and beginning his trek through the wilderness. 

He didn't know what was going to happen once they were all transformed, but he  _ did _ know that he didn't want to be anywhere near them when it happened. He liked being alone, after all. He was just glad that his transformation was quick and painless, unlike Error’s. 

When he felt it starting a good distance away from the cabin, he stopped, sat down, and closed his eyes. He let the feeling of the flawless transition consume him, allowing the Blaster of his soul to come out.

* * *

It hurt.

_ Oh, stars above, it HURT! _

Error’s vocal cords tore out another glitched scream as his bones continued to pop- the transformation sometimes glitching and making him repeat a part of the process multiple times before allowing him to keep the progress.

He could feel his legs revert back to the way that they were and snap in the same spot for the fifth time before staying that way, his arms popping, reverting, popping, revering, and popping  _ again _ before the change became permanent.

Managing to crack open an eye socket, his shaking eyelights caught sight of Ink’s own transformation in front of him- the radhole facing away from Error as his right arm and left leg slowly faded into ink along with a good portion of his middle. 

Error didn’t know why, but Ink was always close to him when he transformed. 

Probably because he couldn’t move when the process started, and Ink usually transformed only seconds after Error.

_ ‘Lucky beanie. His doesn’t hurt at all.’ _ He thought, closing his eye once more when a certain unbearable change left him screaming in pain and gasping for breath as it repeated the process once, twice, three times-

_ SNAP! _

Four seemed to end it for that one. He was almost thankful- his tailbone had tried to grow further for the fifteenth time now, and it was getting rather annoying.

Actually, this whole thing was annoying! Holes in his memory weren’t all that new, but if it had this much of an effect on him it  _ wasn’t okay!  _

His skull cracked and he howled in pain, falling down onto his side when it happened again. He had already fallen to his knees from when the process first started, and he  _ hated _ how defenseless it made him. 

How on earth he survived this was anyone’s guess, but it certainly didn’t help that he couldn’t actually faint until just before the transformation was completed. He would even prefer the familiarity of a crash or reboot than have to deal with this pain, but that would never happen.

He just hoped it would be quicker this time- there was nothing joyful about this.

* * *

“See you in a few days, Cross!” He could hear Dream call from outside of his room. The back door opened and closed shortly after. Cross grunted as he finally got down to his jacket and shirt, taking them off and pushing down his bottoms with ease. Another glitched scream tore through the house, and Cross winced at the reminder of how painful his own transformation would be. It certainly wouldn’t be as long or tortuous as Error’s was, but it would still  _ hurt. _

Stretching a little and still uncomfortable with the idea of being naked around others, Cross pushed through his anxieties and doubts as he opened the door. Another scream that rose and dropped octaves randomly had him walking towards the back door- no one wanted to see even Error in that state.

As he walked out, he could hear Dream’s transformation already starting several feet to the right, so he politely went several feet to the left to transform. He sat down on the ground in the position that he felt would be most comfortable, closed his eyes, and did his best to relax.

This… wouldn’t be fun.

* * *

  
“This,” Killer placed his hands on the table, standing up. “Has gone on for long enough.”

“What has?” Dust asked. He was leaning back in his chair, twirling a knife in his hands around lazily. Horror looked mildly interested- his attention split between the food that was cooking in the kitchen and the conversation they were having at the table.

“Nightmare’s secrecy!” Killer hissed, waving his arms around. “Don’t you want to know what’s going on too?!”

Dust shrugged, and Horror was starting to drool over the delicious smell coming from the kitchen. Killer glared at both of them before slamming his hands down on the table. Both of them jumped, Dust barely catching the knife as he struggled (and failed) to rebalance the chair before he fell. Horror instinctively reached behind him for his axe, his attention fully on Killer.

“This isn’t normal!” He shouted, waving his hand around. “Nightmare hasn’t been normal since he got back three months ago! We haven’t been attacking nearly as much as we should and his sudden breaks are something that he’d kill us over!”

“... That’s true.” Dust admitted as he stood up from the floor, brushing himself off. “Nightmare would only accept that kind of behavior if we were extremely bedridden.”

“Something is going on here, and we deserve to know what it is.” Killer nodded.

“You sound like you have a plan.” Horror said as he slowly let go of his axe, leaning in a little. When Killer nodded, Dust leaned in as well.

“What is it?” He asked.

“We listen very closely to what Nightmare says.” Killer tapped his finger on the table. “We watch how he acts. We look for the signs that show that he’s going to leave soon. We look for odd patterns and disturbances in our normal work- Nightmare’s too paranoid to let us come close to wherever he’s going, and with the three of us being sent to random AUs every day we’ll get a good idea eventually. We’ll make lists for everything and maybe try to get it out of him subtly.”

“... I’ve noticed something.” Dust admitted.

“What is it?” Killer asked, looking at him. Horror was watching them too, and Dust leaned in a little to whisper it to them.

“Dream isn’t being as persistent as he used to.” He said, glancing around. “He doesn’t show up all the time when we start to cause chaos in the worlds- usually it’s when Nightmare’s gone too. Sometimes Ink doesn’t show up either, because he usually shows up if Dream doesn’t. I asked Nightmare about it, and he said not to worry about it. Like he knew why.”

“So you’re saying that other outcodes could be in on this too?” With a nod, Killer leaned back a little. “That settles it. We’re going to find out what’s going on.”

“What are we going to do once we do?” Horror asked. Killer smirked, and in the background, he could hear the timer in the kitchen go off.

“What do you think?”


	2. Kingdomtale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killer, Horror, and Dust learn about what's going on with Nightmare, along with Ink, Dream, Cross, and Error.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the blasters descriptions make sense. Also, I'm pretty sure that I didn't write Dust, Horror, or Killer in character, but oh well. 
> 
> And I hope that you guys enjoy!

His boys had been… off for the last nine months since ‘The Calling Incident’.

Nightmare’s form shifted slightly to show his anxiousness, but he didn't do anything else other than focus on the lists in his hands.

It didn't matter- or at least it  _ better not _ matter in the end. He knew it had to be hard on them, but he couldn’t help it if he still felt stressed and had to leave twice a month- sometimes three times if it was timed right (it seemed like he had a week-required cool off period. Cross and Dream shared it, unfortunately. Apparently, running from him was stressful enough). He didn't even realize just how much he worried about everything until now. 

Was Horror eating enough? Was Dust still asleep? Was Killer feeling okay? Where was his brother and Cross now? Had they moved or stayed? When would Error attack his base to destroy the world it was on? Would he be able to fend him off? What if Ink decided to come by and cause chaos for fun? Would Ink even protect them from Error?

Not to mention all of the paperwork that he did to mess around with the other worlds politically. He forged so many documents and signatures, dropping them off into the worlds to let the chaos reign. If even one thing was off it wouldn’t work, and that was a lot of effort being put into practically nothing at that point.

Nightmare rubbed the side of his head, letting out a sigh as he felt another tug in his soul.

“I know, I know.” He grumbled, checking the lists he’d leave for his boys. “I’ll go to Kingdomtale, just let me-” The tug came,  _ harder _ , and he growled. “I just need to hang these on my door and lock it!”

Talking to himself probably wasn’t all that great, but he felt like his Gaster Blaster form had a completely separate conscience, needs, and desires than Nightmare had. It would make sense to tell that other side of him to just  _ wait _ until he could actually leave. Apparently, it was very impatient.

He tacked the lists onto the outside of his door along with an apology note, silently accepting that he couldn’t make his job any less stressful without breaking the truce or just giving up taking over the Multiverse completely. Nor would he actually be able to notify his gang members in person this time. He closed and locked the door behind him, sighing heavily at the guilt that ate away at him.

“Okay.” He said, opening a portal. “Let’s get this over with.” It closed behind him, leaving his room empty.

A floor below him, in the supply closet that was just below his bedroom, Dust smiled at what he heard through the vents. He pulled out his phone, sending a quick message to Horror and Killer.

_ *Nightmare’s left to Kingdomtale. _

* * *

Killer grunted as he teleported, appearing in the forest close to New Kingdom. Horror and Dust appeared behind him, and he looked over his shoulder at them.

“Now, the question is where on Earth he could be.”

“I took care of that.” Horror admitted with a smirk, taking his phone out of his pocket. “Every day this week I’ve snuck a tracker into Nightmare’s food. Now that we’re in the AU-” He turned it on, the device making a whirring noise as he extended an antenna. “It should work.”

And work it did. The device made all kinds of noises before a very slow, but steady beep sounded from it. Killer and Dust leaned over to see what the screen on it said, and Killer realized that it gave them a general location that was about one thousand miles away. He grabbed their shoulders and teleported them as close to the given area as much as he could, landing them at the base of one of the mountains. Dust blinked for a moment in shock while Horror walked around with the tracker to recalibrate it.

“This way.” He said, pointing up the mountain. Killer nodded and followed him, Dust right behind him. They climbed for an hour or two until Horror began walking in a new direction, leading them closer and closer. Finally, Killer saw it.

“There!” He said, shaking Horror’s shoulder to get him to look up as Dust finished climbing over the rock. “A cabin. He must be around there.”

“Why would Nightmare need a cabin?” Horror asked as Killer rushed ahead. Dust stopped next to Horror as he caught his breath, shrugging and squinting at the cabin.

“It… doesn’t look medieval.” Dust looked up at Horror for confirmation. Horror stared at it before nodding in agreement, jogging down the small hill.

“Killer! Wait!” He called. “It could be a trap!”

Dust hurried along after them, tripping a little as he ran down the small hill on the mountain rather than jog down. He chased after them until he stopped next to Horror again, who had caught up with Killer.

“Don’t…” Dust gasped, leaning against a tree. “Leave me behind like that!”

“Sorry.” The grin on Killer’s skull said otherwise. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s inside it. From what I can tell through that glass door, it has a kitchen, a living room, and six other rooms. One’s probably a bathroom.”

“Is it unlocked?” Dust asked.

“Yeah.” Horror snickered. “But we were waiting for you to catch up, ya slowpoke.”

“Why you little-” Even as worn out as he was, Dust tackled the other to the ground. Horror grunted underneath him as they wrestled in the grass, smiles on both of their faces.

“Guys! We’re supposed to be laying low!” Killer hissed, but he didn't move to stop them from fighting.

“He asked for it!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“You-” The sound of a large animal stepping behind them had them all freezing. Killer could feel the breath of whatever it was on his neck, and Horror and Dust were too terrified and shocked to actually say anything.

“... Is it a bear? Dragon? Wyvern?” Killer asked, fingering a knife he kept on him at all times under his jacket. He could take on a bear, but not the other two. Horror, who was now on top of Dust, slowly shook his head. 

Deciding (stupidly) to brave the unknown, Killer slowly turned around…

And froze.

A very tall, skeletal beast was standing beside him, it’s skull reminiscent of a Gaster Blaster canon and its body looking like that of any well-known four-legged creature. Its bones were black, and they were also drizzled in a black goop that was familiar to him. It dangled and tangled around the black bones like slime, but not once did the substance actually drip down. Some of it was stretched over and dripping down the beast’s right eye, the eye light in there nonexistent. The left eye, on the other hand, had a single piercing cyan eye light. Its claws and teeth were sharp and deadly, and the sharp horns on its head were long and curled slowly. It stood at four-to-five times Killer’s height, taking a long sniff out of him before snorting softly at the ground between them.

Kingdomtale didn't have beasts like this, Killer knew- and there was only ever one skeleton that he’d correspond with black goop.

“... Nightmare?” He asked in an uncertain breath, staring up at the, admittedly terrifying, beast. The other simply observed him, sniffing him once more before slowly bending down. Killer hesitantly removed his hand from his knife, lifting it up slowly to meet the skeleton beast’s skull. It softly bumped the hand, and Killer found himself awed when it allowed him to pet it. The familiar thickness of the goo against his hand strengthened his hypothesis, and he looked up into the cyan eye light. “You’re… Nightmare, aren’t you.”

He could hear Horror and Dust shift behind him, and he raised his other hand up to hold onto the skull in fascination. When he rubbed a certain spot next to the nose cavity Nightmare let out an almost indistinguishable purr, leaning into the touch.

“Holy ship.” He breathed. “You’re Nightmare. This is why you keep running off.”

Dust and Horror walked over to stand next to him, and Nightmare let them reach up to touch him as well, staying very still. When a very loud whine sounded, Killer, Horror, and Dust turned to look at where it had come from- the cabin. Nightmare lifted his head too, but before the three skeletons could run to see what it was, Nightmare leaned down and grabbed Killer by the hood of his jacket.

“Woah, woah, woah!” He exclaimed, fumbling around as he was lifted off of the ground. He grabbed onto Nightmare’s bones tightly when he was placed on Nightmare’s back, looking around in confusion. Horror and Dust quickly followed him, and once they were all secure on Nightmare’s back, their boss-turned-skeleton-beast moved.

“This is so weird…” Horror said softly, excitement rising in his voice.

“Do you think Nightmare recognized us?” Dust asked. Killer looked over his shoulder at him and shrugged.

“I guess.” He said, turning back around. “I wonder where he’s taking- oh.”

“Oh?” Dust asked, trying to look over Killer’s and Horror’s heads. “What’s-  _ oh. _ ”

There, a few feet away and in front of the cabin were two skeleton beasts similar to Nightmare. The one that was standing up had white and grey bones, with swirling designs all over its ribcage and spine. It had a large black splotch on the right side of its skull, which covered the majority of that side’s chin and looked more like a splatter of black paint than anything. It also had multi-colored eye lights that seemed to randomly change every once in a while, and a black runny substance was leaking out from between two of its teeth. The skeleton beast seemed to only come up to just above Nightmare’s shoulder blades, but it was hard to tell because it was helping the other skeletal beast up.

This skeletal beast was clearly another head or two taller than Nightmare. It was covered in black and red bones, with the pattern repeating on its paw- only its claws were yellow. Glitches and Error signs moved across its bones, its tail tipped a dark, faded blue. Its sharp teeth were yellow and it had blue tear-track marks running down from its chin from the eye sockets, as well as blue strings that hung in a way that was like the markings. Familiar eye lights that would only belong to one ‘Sans’ in particular rested in the eye sockets of the beast. Its horns were jagged and sharp, but its threatening appearance was ruined by how clear it was that the beast was in pain. It stood up on shaking legs with the other beast’s guidance, occasionally glancing at them wearily.

“That’s Error.” Killer could hear Dust breathe behind him.

“And Ink.” Horror added. A soft snorting sound came from Nightmare, and Ink turned to look at him in response with a small growl that sounded weary, not threatening. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Ink turned back to Error and Nightmare moved to walk past them, into the forest.

“This…” Killer glanced behind him to look at Dust, who was waving one of his hands around as he spoke. “This is amazing!”

“Nightmare didn't attack them.” Horror said thoughtfully, tilting his head down as he pondered. “They didn't look threatened by him or disturbed.” Then he looked up. “Have either of you heard of this kind of thing before?”

“No.” Dust shook his head.

“A few times.” Killer admitted slowly, turning back around. “Nightmare’s sent me to a Gaster Blaster AU before. They’re a little weird.”

“Gaster Blaster AU?” Dust scoffed. “What kind of AU is that?”

“One where the brothers, or just the Sans, turn into beasts like these.” Killer patted one of Nightmare’s bones softly. “Sometimes they lose themselves in it, other times they’re still in there but don’t remember what happens, and other times they remember everything. You can see it as a skeletal werewolf AU if you wanted to, only they can’t spread it to other people.”

“Then how did Nightmare get it?” Horror asked as they approached a clearing of sorts. “I’m pretty sure he couldn’t do this before-  _ oh ship look at his tails!” _

Instantly, Dust and Killer turned around again. Indeed, Nightmare had a black and boney tail. The thing was that he didn't have just  _ one. _ He had  _ five. _

“This is definitely Nightmare.” Killer nodded to himself. “Error and Ink only had one tail each.”

“Do you think there are others who have this too?”

“If you want to know, just look ahead.” Dust said, leaning to the side from where he sat in order to point. Horror and Killer both turned back towards the front as Nightmare stopped just inside the clearing.

Two more skeleton beasts were in the field. The shorter one, that looked to be about Nightmare’s height, had a golden circlet around one of its short, curved horns. It had yellow eye lights and appeared to be trying to goad the other one into playing with it- yipping, barking, snorting- anything. Its tail was waving behind it happily

The other one had a long, red lightning-like scar next to its nose cavity, with two white eyelights. He was taller than the skeletal monster, sitting there stiffly and watching the other quietly. It stood up and shook the other off when it jumped on it’s back, nipping at him. The smaller skeletal beast fell off with a huff, whining up at the other.

“Who wants to bet that that’s Cross and Dream?” Horror asked.

“That’s definitely Cross and Dream.” Killer made a face as Dream howled a little, running a small ways away. Cross turned to look up at them, and all three skeletons froze when his eyes locked on them. Dream took notice of them and walked forward, gently nudging Cross until he paid attention to him. When Cross finally did, Dream did a weird little hopping motion before looking back at Cross. Cross stared at him for a moment, looked back up at them, and then fully turned to follow Dream.

“Ugh. They’re sickening even in this form.” Dust groaned, throwing his head back.

“The fact that all these people are here and that no one is fighting each other is astonishing.” Horror mumbled as Nightmare moved again, turning around to walk back towards the cabin. Along the way they saw Ink helping Error move through the woods in a direction north of the field, Error clearly still in pain.

“I wonder what happened to him.” Dust admitted.

“Maybe they fought before this?” Horror asked, but Killer was already shaking his head.

“Sometimes the process is really painful.” Killer explained, looking away from Ink and Error. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s recovering from the transformation.”

“Have you seen it happen?” Dust asked.

“Twice.” Killer winced. “They usually either happen once a month or are caused by stress. Sometimes they can control it, but that’s rare. The bones pop and crack as they shift and grow to better fit the form of the blaster. Sometimes it’s done in the blink of an eye, other times it takes hours before the change is complete.”

“If it only happens once a month, then why on Earth is Nightmare gone for more than that?”

“ _ Or are caused by stress, _ ” Killer repeated, looking back at Dust. “Haven’t you noticed that Nightmare’s been stressed lately?”

“It  _ is _ on the list that he gets really stressed right before he leaves.” Horror hummed.

“Well, what are we going to do now?” 

“We try to learn as much as possible.” Killer nodded. “There’s a cabin, we can chill there while we try to figure out what’s going on. Maybe we can even visit one of those Gaster Blaster AUs to learn more while we’re out doing our chores.”

“We should leave before they transform back, even if he’ll remember.” Dust added. “It’s better to be safe than sorry, and Nightmare didn’t want us to find out. If he detransforms and realizes that we’re here then we’re doomed. Not to mention that we still have the to-do lists to do.”

“We can take turns.” Horror suggested. “Two of us can take half of the third person’s chores each, and that one person can spend the time collecting information and staying here until before they transform back.”

“Stay here?” Killer asked, raising a browbone. “As in live? For the majority of the three days?”

“I’m just a  _ bit _ curious as to how different their personalities are.” Dust admitted. “And how they act around each other like this. Staying here would be useful.”

“We could finally figure out what animal a Blaster is most like.” Horror pointed out. “And we can learn all sorts of things about them. We’ll have to be careful while we do it though.”

“You two are going to get me into trouble.” Killer groaned. Although he wouldn’t admit it, he was curious too.

“We should all talk this out.” Horror said as they approached the cabin.

“That’s if Nightmare will let us down.” Killer leaned to the side a little, waving his hand. “Hey, Boss! Nightmare! Nighty~! Can we get down now?!” Nightmare turned his large head around to stare at them with his cyan eye. Killer froze under the gaze, but thankfully Dust spoke up.

“Down?” He asked, pointing at the cabin. “We want to go there.” Nightmare looked at the building and looked back to Dust, almost suspiciously. Dust didn’t know what to say, so Horror piped up.

“We’re hungry, and we have chores to do back home. We’ll be safe.”

Nightmare snorted, and Killer laughed awkwardly.

“I don’t think we can be safe, Horror.”

“Well, we can be careful!” The other drawled, leaning forward a little more. “We know what we’re doing!”

“Sometimes, I don’t think  _ you _ do.” Killer said, and Dust snickered.

“Guys!” Dust hissed through his suppressed laughter. “We’re supposed to be convincing Nightmare to let us down!”

“Maybe if we argue enough he will.” Horror answered with his own cackle. Killer laughed out loud, tears gathering in his eye sockets.

“Nightmare  _ does _ hate it when we fight.” Dust admitted, his laughter dying down. “I’m not sure if that’s safe though.”

“Yeah, probably not the best- hey!” Killer gasped as he was suddenly licked, a dark cyan tongue leaving a trail of magical drool behind. He made a face of absolute horror and disgust as he was picked up and placed onto the ground in front of the cabin. Horror and Dust were laughing at him, only for Horror to become the next victim. He tensed as it happened, his blown eye light getting wider as Nightmare calmly picked him up and placed him next to Killer.

“Nonono~!” Dust giggled as Nightmare turned towards him, giving him a good lick too. “Nightmare!” He exclaimed, reaching up and giving Nightmare a few pats as he put him down by Horror. Nightmare seemed to look over them all with a critical eye before he turned around and began to walk away- in the direction that Ink and Error had been heading in.

“That bathroom better have a shower,” Killer grumbled as he turned around, opening the door.

“I need food.” Was all that Horror said when he turned to walk into the house. He paused when he saw a see-through box with Ink’s sash in it. “Is it really that important to him?”

“I guess.” Dust shrugged, walking into the house with Horror behind him.


	3. Dust's Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's decided that Dust gets to take the first shift, and he learns a few things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, they're not staying in canon.
> 
> Let's just say that Nightmare brought Dust back from his insanity, so he doesn't talk to Paps anymore. He probably has a journal where he writes letters to him though.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

It was decided amongst them that Dust would be the first one to stay at the cabin for the next two days while the other two worked hard to cover their tracks. Horror had snagged a blank journal from a random bookstore, and they’d decided to each keep an entry for their findings and discoveries. 

Dust chose to focus more on figuring out what they shared in common with their counterparts, Horror decided to figure out which animal they were close to, and Killer decided to focus on learning as much as he could from the Gaster Blaster AUs to see what the similarities and differences were. 

Maybe, one day, they could figure out what started this.

Killer was the one who wrote the entry in the Journal (that took up multiple pages) before he and Horror left to work, writing down everything that he could recall about the Gaster Blaster AUs. Dust was sitting down outside on the porch as he read through them, mildly fascinated at the information the journal already obtained. 

He looked up and tucked the journal into a hidden pocket in his jacket when Nightmare appeared, standing up and smiling.

“Hey!” He greeted, reaching up to pat Nightmare when he leaned his skull down. Nightmare sniffed him and looked around, trying to peer into the windows of the cabin. It took Dust a bit to realize that he was looking for Horror and Killer, and he smiled.

_ ‘He must be really protective like this.’ _ He thought.

“Aw, don’t worry about them.” Dust waved his hand. “They’re back home doing their chores. I finished mine, so I’m staying here.” Dust had to blink off his surprise when  _ Nightmare _ , of all people, whined anxiously. He scratched under Nightmare’s chin lightly. “Hey, they’re okay. They’re safe. I promise.”

Eventually, Nightmare seemed to agree with him and relaxed, nuzzling Dust’s chest. Dust laughed, looking up when Nightmare removed his skull from his body.

“You must really care about us.” Dust commented, mostly to himself. He hadn’t really thought about it before, but it made sense in a way. Nightmare was always checking on them, getting them the things that they’d need and taking care of them if they needed it. It made Dust smile, and Nightmare’s tongue made another appearance to lick his face. “Wha- Nightmare!”

Huffing in what appeared to be amusement, Nightmare picked Dust up by his jacket carefully and placed him on his back. Dust situated himself while Nightmare looked around the cabin a little more.

“Hey,” Dust patted Nightmare’s bones, and Nightmare turned to look at him. “They’re okay. I promise. We can leave, they’re safe.”

Nightmare stared trepidatiously at him before looking back at the house. They stood there for a tense minute, he was probably trying to figure out if Dust’s words had fact to them (Nightmare did the same thing, Dust knew- he liked to triple check everything). When he seemed content with the results, he walked off into the forest with Dust on his back.

Dust took a moment to appreciate the scenery around them- beautiful skies, tall trees, and a wonderful view from where they were on the mountain. Dust almost wished their hideout was like this, but he would never want anything more than his own little bedroom in Nightmare’s castle. His needs were met, he could cause chaos, and the friendships he had with his gang members were better than the ones he had had underground- excluding Papyrus, of course.

He could see the clearing up ahead- from the looks of it, Error and Ink had joined Dream and Cross there. Error was kinda just… laying there, almost hesitantly, like he was unsure of how to act. Ink and Dream were chasing each other through the high grass, and Cross was sitting there watching them play. 

The moment Nightmare entered the field though, Cross stood up and walked over to Dream and Ink. He picked Dream up with his mouth by his neck and carried him over to where he had been sitting before, settling down in the grass there on top of Dream. Dream whined and shuffled around a little while he was carried, but he ultimately let Cross lay on top of him with a soft sigh.

Ink, who no longer had someone to play with, looked absolutely bored. In fact, when Cross had removed Dream from their play fight, he looked downright  _ insulted _ . He looked around and considered Error for a moment before looking over at him and Nightmare. Dust could pick out the exact moment Ink saw him on Nightmare’s back, because the Blaster Beast rushed up to him and instantly put his snout in Dust’s face (as much as he could, being as small as he was). Nightmare growled warningly, but Ink seemed to brush it off like it was nothing. 

Which he probably did, because as far as Dust was concerned, Ink didn't actually take orders from anybody. Telling Ink to actually do something was more like asking for a child to stay still and be quiet without doing anything to really entertain them, and that was even if Ink  _ was _ entertained.

Ink bumped him softly, and Dust hesitantly reached a hand over to place it on Ink’s bone. Dust glanced behind Ink and he could see his tail wagging a storm.

“Heh.” He moved his hand over to where the runny black substance was leaking out of Ink’s mouth, recognizing it now that he was much closer. “Of course it’s black ink. Ink throws it up every now and then.” He looked back into the multi-colored eye lights that were on level with his own. Dust hummed thoughtfully. “I should probably draw you guys for reference… I wonder what other kinds of quirks you guys have as blasters now.”

Seeing as it was going well so far, Nightmare slowly lowered himself into the grass that went up to just below Dust’s knees. Dust waited for a moment after that before trying to get off, and Nightmare turned to offer his skull to him. Dust placed his hands on it, thinking that he just wanted attention when Nightmare pulled Dust up using his skull. Dust yelped as he hung off of the area closest to the front of Nighmare’s mouth, his fingers just short of grabbing the nasal cavity. He swung his legs around a little as he was lifted, but it didn’t take that long for Nightmare to place him down in the grass.

“Thanks.” He said as Nightmare pulled away. Ink was towering over him now, a paw raised like he was going to do something. Nightmare let out a growl and the appendage was lowered. Ink wandered off again, apparently tired of them now.

When it didn’t look like anything major was going to happen, Dust grabbed the pen from his jacket pocket along with the journal and opened it up to a page. He held the Journal landscape so that he could draw better, and instantly got to work on sketching out Nightmare. 

At one point, Ink had managed to sneak up behind him. It startled Dust when Ink nudged his back, and he turned around to look at him. Ink’s eye lights kept on darting between Dust and the book, and after looking down he laughed.

“Don’t worry.” He said, turning back around and drawing again. “You’re next.” Ink was  _ very _ enthusiastic about that, because the next thing he knew a rainbow tongue had come out and licked him. “Hey!”

He was actually worried that Ink would do more, but Nightmare had their eye on them and it didn’t look like Ink wanted to try anything with him watching.

_ ‘Note to self,’ _ Dust thought as he made small notes on the next page about what he had learned about Nightmare.  _ ‘It’s probably a bad idea to be alone with Ink.’ _

When he was done, he flipped to the next two pages and turned around to face Ink. Ink jumped around happily before going into the traditional pose most artists would use when sketching creatures. He stayed still for longer than Dust thought he would, and once that drawing was finished he started adding his notes of Ink on the next page. With that done, Dust reached up and patted Ink’s bones.

“Thank you.” He said, and he couldn’t help but feel a little weird saying that to someone outside of the gang. Ink looked particularly pleased with himself, and he walked back over to Error. He stopped for a moment before the larger Blaster before he slowly, almost carefully, got into position on top of Error. Once he was comfortable, he closed his eyes and began to nap. Or, at least, that’s what Dust assumed he was doing now.

_ ‘Huh.’ _ Pushing the, admittedly odd, behavior to the back of his mind, he decided that the next one he would draw was Dream, and after him, Cross. He approached the two cautiously, purposefully moving slower when Cross looked like he was going to attack. Standing several feet away, and thankful for the close-up, he began to sketch Dream. He hadn’t watched Dream enough to make any notes, so he left the next page blank except for the title of ‘Dream’s Notes’. 

He flipped the page and began to sketch Cross. He leaned forward a little, and his eyes caught onto black X’s that marked the bones on the Blaster’s feet. He moved to walk to the side, to see if the pattern was the same on the back, but he had to jump over a tail the second he did. Looking up, he realized that it was Cross’ tail, and after looking at the  _ cut _ grass around him, he realized that Cross’ tail was sharp.  _ Really sharp. _

Cross looked about ready to swing the tail back the other direction, so Dust quickly held his hands up and stepped back. He’d rather  _ not _ figure out if he can last in a fight against them in this form, thank you very much! 

When it didn't look like that was placating enough, Nightmare growled from across the expanse of space between them. Cross huffed, but ultimately didn't do anything when Dream pawed at him too.

He added his discoveries about Cross onto his list, heavily underlining the  _ ‘do not approach’  _ note. He doubted they’d be able to gain Cross’ trust right away. After a few more slow and cautious steps back, making sure that Cross wouldn’t actually pounce on him, Dust turned to start walking towards Error and Ink.

Before he could even get as close to Error as he had been with Cross, a black paw stepped in front of him. Dust looked up to see Nightmare staring at Error, and he looked back at the said Blaster as well. Not seeing any reason why he should stop, Error was clearly asleep, he climbed over Nightmare’s paw and continued. This time he was stopped by multiple tails, and when he tried to get over them Nightmare picked him up by his jacket and placed him on his back.

“Oh, come on!” Dust exclaimed quietly, mostly to himself. Nightmare still had his eye light trained on Error though- like he was going to suddenly attack if Nightmare did the wrong thing. When Nightmare still didn’t move, Dust sighed and did what he could with where he was. He drew a picture of Error and wrote ‘painful transformation’ on his notes page in all caps. 

At that point, the sun was beginning to set. Even without moving around all that much, Dust was getting tired. A yawn forced its way out of his throat, and he rubbed his eye socket sleepily.

“Who knew drawing could be exhausting?” He asked no one in particular, leaning forward against Nightmare and gently rubbing his bones (and maybe playing with the black goop. It had a really weird texture). Nightmare gave a small huff of acknowledgment, and then rattled his bones a little. Instantly, everyone looked at him- including Error, who Dust had honestly believed to be fast asleep.

Maybe that was why Nightmare had stopped him.

Nightmare stared at them for a few moments before he turned and walked back towards the cabin. Dust glanced behind him and noticed that the others were following them. It confused Dust for a moment, but when it clicked in his head  _ everything _ made sense.

_ ‘They’re like a pack.’ _ He thought, reaching for the journal to add something new.  _ ‘And Nightmare’s the Alpha.’ _

It didn’t take long for them to make it to the cabin, where Nightmare dropped him off before leaving with the others to sleep somewhere else. When Dust woke up the next day (there weren’t any beds, he’d have to talk to Killer about getting camping equipment for them to take to the cabin) they all basically the same exact thing- except in reverse, with them starting in the fields and then slowly going their separate ways. 

Dust made a small note about Ink being less vibrant than he was yesterday- instead of him trying to goad Error into doing things, Error was trying to get him to do things. He thought he caught sight of Error stopping Ink from gnawing on his paws, but he was on Nightmare’s back and being led away from them at that point, so it was hard to tell.

That day was pretty uneventful, and Dust refused to stay past ten AM for the third. He only took the time to eat breakfast and write down another note or two about Ink (he had given Dust a heart attack when he caught the Blaster Beast just sitting there next to the see-through box by the front door, blank-faced and unresponsive. Error seemed really stressed about it).

When he teleported home, he gave the Journal to Horror and Killer to look at, explaining how he had set the pages up and what he had observed. While he was gone, it had been decided that Killer would be the one who would stay next- although ‘staying’ actually meant hopping between Kingdomtale and the Gaster Blaster AUs to try and figure out which ones would be the best comparison. Horror would take the next three days after that, and the cycle would repeat from there.

Accepting the plan of action and giving the journal to Killer for the next week to come, they went their separate ways to prepare for Nightmare’s return.

* * *

When Nightmare returned home around lunchtime, something odd happened. He had only been home for a few minutes at most, and he was distracted with making lunch and fighting off a weird, anxious feeling that had blossomed in his soul the moment he regained his conscience. 

Had something strange happened to him while he was gone? He never remembered anything from his transformations, much less have any feelings transfer over from the other transformations… maybe-

“Uhh… Boss?” Killer asked from behind him, confusion and amusement coming from him

“What?”

“I appreciate the gesture and all, but I kinda need my arm to do this.” Confused, Nightmare turned around with a question on his tongue, only to freeze.

His tentacle was wrapped snugly around Killer’s wrist, content and not looking like it would be ready to let go any time soon. The realization actually soothed him, if he was being honest with himself. For whatever reason, a part of him was trying to keep Killer close.

But he hadn’t asked Killer if he could do that, nor did he know why he did. He hadn’t even noticed it moving, and  _ that _ was concerning.

Glaring at the tentacle and easing it off of Killer’s bones (which took more effort than it should have), Nightmare apologized softly and went back to making lunch. Not even seconds later, the same thing happened to Horror. It repeated for the rest of the day, and eventually Killer and Horror decided to ‘screw it’ and give their boss the hug he ‘so clearly wanted’. 

Dust joined in what definitely  _ wasn’t  _ a cuddle pile a few minutes later, but not once did his tentacles leave Killer or Horror alone, nor did they choose to wrap around Dust without his consent. He was just relieved when it actually stopped the next day, ignoring the curious gazes of his boys.

It was just a fluke, he told himself. There wasn’t anything wrong and there was no reason for him to have worried about Killer and Horror, but not Dust. Granted, he always worried about them, but  _ this _ had never happened before.

Whatever the reason was, he wasn’t sure if he liked it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I hope that you’re enjoying this so far. If you want to, could you please leave a comment with your thoughts? I’d love to hear what you think!


End file.
